


Set Aside Your Traditions

by Angel_of_the_Axis



Series: Class Sodium [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien isn't a (complete) idiot, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angry Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Angst, Gen, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Gets a Hug (well kinda), Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Is So Done, Marinette yells at Chat Noir, Minor salt, Protective Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Rating went up because of my potty-mouth comments, References to Depression, Salty Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, like all the angst, minor Adrien salt, minor lila salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25546609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_of_the_Axis/pseuds/Angel_of_the_Axis
Summary: Adrien should have realized that his passive "high road" comments would come back to bite him in the ass when he makes an impulsive visit to Marinette's one night as Chat Noir and finds her in the midst of an emotional breakdown after a few almost-akumatizations.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Class Sodium [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849333
Comments: 4
Kudos: 313





	Set Aside Your Traditions

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so Adrien, right
> 
> I was NOT OKAY when they gave him the infamous "High Road" line, right
> 
> But honestly, in a way, it kind of makes sense?? From a celebrity standpoint??
> 
> Like, we've all heard a million times not to 'feed the trolls' on the internet. I'm sure that at some point, either Gabriel or Emilie (or hell, both) sat their son down and was like, "Adrien, sweetie, if the 'razzi start following you, the best action is no action" and he took it to heart for everything that felt similar.
> 
> And I really freaking hated the line because I was bullied in middle school, and I know damn well like anyone else that the bullies aren't always just gonna stop harassing you if you stop engaging. A lot of them see you as a weak target and keep bullying you anyway. So yeah, I wasn't happy with that line, but in a way, I kinda get it.
> 
> Like, Gabriel isn't the best father, we've all established that, but I think he at least cares enough to protect his son from the paparazzi, and so he (or his wife, or both) teach him not to do anything to give them ammunition. And like the oblivious sunshine child he is, Adrien applied it to literally every problem that qualified for it because,,, well, he's not gonna know any better about how other kids work, because he's been homeschooled nearly his entire life and he doesn't interact with many "normal" kids his own age. Thus explaining, not excusing, the line.
> 
> Trust me, it will never excuse the added emotional stress he gave to Marinette (and Bustier did too, but I'm saving that whole rant for another time), but he also doesn't deserve to be flat-out demonized in saltfics where he doesn't need to be. His obsessive 'love' for Ladybug aside, he's going to be emotionally stunted because of his upbringing, and I don't fault him for that.
> 
> They could stand to tone down the creepy obsession that Marinette (to Adrien) and Adrien (to Ladybug) have with one another, though. Sorry Thomas, your show is great, but there are points where I've had to stop watching just to cringe because of how badly these characters can behave. I understand that they're awkward, hormonal teenagers in middle school, but there is a limit. I'm sure we've passed that limit by now.

All Adrien knew at the time was whatever his parents had taught him, from a celebrity standpoint. "Don't pay any attention to tabloids or the paparazzi, Adrien. Eventually, they'll find a new target to follow, and they'll leave you alone."

And then he got friends, and Nino had told him once, "It's like a cardinal rule of the internet, dude. Never feed the trolls, 'cause they don't care who they argue with. They're just fighting because they want to."

So by this point, he figured that he had conflicts figured out when it came to confronting liars and bullies. Just go with the flow, don't engage, don't add fuel to the flames and they'll stop.

But when Kagami suddenly called him around eight-ten on a school night, demanding that he go over to Marinette's house and talk with her, he was puzzled until he remembered that he'd slyly given the girl Kagami's number in disguise as Chat Noir's, just in case she ever needed to talk to someone. In his mind, he figured the girls had enough in common that a friendship could sprout from it.

Kagami sounded so serious about her command that he eventually capitulated, deciding to go as the cat hero to be inconspicuous. Vaguely, he wondered what Marinette could've told her to get her so panicked, but it wasn't until he got to the girl's balcony and popped in through the trapdoor that he realized that something was very, very wrong.

The girl was lying in total darkness, the only light coming from (what he assumed to be) her cellphone on her chaise. The girl was a dark lump next to it, shaking and whimpering softly into her arms. The whole atmosphere was off, dark, and he could feel his own mood being sapped away more and more by the second by the sheer abyss of despair that seemed to envelop the room.

His heart skipped a beat in surprise when he heard her voice calling shakily, "H-- hello?"

"Marinette?" He replied, hopping down from above and making his way to her. He lay a hand on her back, kneeling beside her. "Mari, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

She squinted up at him for a second before she recognized him. Her face suddenly became angry, and she pointed a finger at his chest.

"You gave me someone else's number," she accused, her voice angry and hurt. She rolled over and he could faintly see her face glaring at him, tear-streaked and red, from the light through the window. "You handed me off to _someone else_ to vent about my problems. You're-- you're--!"

"Whoa, Princess, calm down for a second." He rose his arms in defense. "I gave you that number because that was someone I know and trust. If I'd given you my real number, what if Hawkmoth used that to lure me in so that he could steal my Miraculous?"

"Well you've done enough so far," she snapped, turning so that her back faced him. "Because of you, I've already humiliated myself, thinking that I'm talking to you, when I'm actually talking to a random girl that I hardly even know!"

"I thought you two would hit it off," he defended. "She's really a great person once you get to know her, and--"

"I didn't need _her_ , I needed _you_!" She shouted, making him cringe backward. "I needed you to listen to me, Chat, but apparently that wasn't enough for you!"

"No, no, that's not--"

"I'm assuming she didn't even tell you what I told her, so I'll give you a summarized version," she continued angrily, getting up and glowering at him, the light from her phone reflecting off her face. "I almost got akumatized no more than five separate times today. Five. Times. And I'm just so sick of dealing with everything, everyone hates me, there's this girl at school that's threatening me and taking my friends--"

Adrien's heart dropped to his feet, and he began to hyperfocus on her words.

Akumatized. Five separate times. Marinette, the strongest girl he knew (besides Ladybug), had almost been Hawkmoth's latest victim, five times.

The one person in class, besides him, who hadn't fallen to the villain's influence yet. Who hadn't buckled under pressure, even with the countless akumas, even with Chloe, even with life.

_What had he done?_

He wasn't sure what face he was making, but Marinette paused in her rant and nudged him with her fist, looking hurt. "--Are you even listening to me?"

"Marinette," he breathed, deeply shaken. "Mari. _Princess_. I..."

"You what." She folded her arms across her chest, still sniffling. Still teary-eyed. "Are you going to apologize? For not being there? For giving me someone else's number? I don't want it, Chat. I wanted _you_. But apparently you're just _too busy_ for me."

Too busy. The words stung. On one hand, he knew that she was acting out of anger from an incredibly long day, but on the other, he couldn't help but realize that she was right. Not just as Chat, but as Adrien.

He'd tried to be the best support that he could be, but between his suddenly-tightened schedule imposed by his father (and with Lila, no less) and trying to keep his grades up at school, he really hadn't had much time for his friends. For Marinette.

"I'm... you're right, Mari. I'm truly sorry for neglecting you." He said softly, his ears drooping. "I haven't been a very good friend lately, have I?"

She huffed, giving him a stern look.

He tried to gently pry one of her hands away so that he could squeeze it, staring her in her big blue eyes. "I am sorry, Marinette. I'll try better from now on to make time for you, okay? Can you find it in yourself to trust this silly cat's word?"

She glowered at him for a few seconds before rolling her eyes and sighing at his pleading look. Her lips quirked up on one side into a sarcastic half-smile. "You're lucky that you've mastered the pleading eyes, Kitty. Alright, I accept your apology."

"Thank you, Marinette." He smiled brightly at her and sat down on the chaise. "So, what's been bothering you? This time, I promise I'll listen."

She flopped back down next to him with a heavy sigh. "Well, I guess it all started when that girl -- Lila, remember her? -- came back to class. She immediately started lying again, but this time, people just..." she wrinkled her nose in disbelief, "... believed her. Even when she was exposed for lying last time, she just keeps making people believe her. And every time I try to clear things up, people brush it off as me being jealous."

"Jealous? Of her?" He snorted. "Not you. What would you have to be jealous of?"

Here, Marinette seemed to hesitate. She rubbed the skin of her arms and looked down, muttering quietly, "... Adrien."

"Hm?"

"Adrien." She said louder, her face reddening more. "The boy I... like."

Chat had to pause. _Marinette liked him?_ "Oh?"

"Everyone knows that I like him... except him, I guess. Nobody's had much of an issue about it before, but... well, ever since Lila started spreading rumors that I'm a creepy stalker, nobody takes me seriously anymore. I'm just 'that girl who's too obsessed with Adrien'."

"And Adrien... you don't sound like you're very good friends with him." He prodded gently. "Did something happen?"

"I guess you could say that," she snorted, hugging her knees to her chest. "When Lila came back, the very first day here, she threatened me in the bathroom. She threatened to take my friends away and make me miserable. And then I find Adrien, and you know what he tells me?"

He had a bad feeling he knew where this was going. "What?"

" _'Take the high road'_ , he said," she mimicked his voice by making her own a little deeper. " _'She'll stop lying eventually.'_ As if that helps anything. As if that makes her stop bullying me, just because I stop spending energy trying to get others to see that she's _clearly_ lying."

"But how do you know she's lying?" He pointed out. "Everyone in your class has something special about them, don't they?"

"Oh great, you sound just like Alya." Marinette grumbled. "Yeah, I guess we have talented people in my class, but for most of the things she says, you could spend literally fifteen seconds on Google and debunk it. Like the whole 'rescued cat' thing? It's been said in a few different interviews, which are all on YouTube, by the way, that Jagged has never had a cat, just because he doesn't think they're 'rock-n-roll' enough."

He nodded indulgently.

"I don't know, I just..." she heaved a shuddering breath, "I just feel so alone. I know I have a few people on my side, like Nathanael, and Marc, and Juleka... but everyone else is so distant. It hurts, Chat. It hurts that my own friends won't even give me the time of day anymore."

Frowning softly, he reached over to wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "But I'm your friend, Mari," he said, not as Chat, but as Adrien. "You know you've got me in your corner."

"Now I do," she dryly replied. "You've hardly given me the time of day for a week now, not to mention the wrong number you gave me."

"I really am sorry for blowing you off like that, but surely you understand that I had to do it out of safety." He tried to reason. "If I'd given you my real number--"

"Yeah, I remember, we've already had this song and dance," she interrupted irritably. "If you were _so_ concerned about safety, you wouldn't be meeting random civilian girls on their balconies whenever they 'seem lonely' and 'need a friend', would you?"

He drooped a bit. "... Well, I suppose you've got me there."

"Look, Chat, I just... I just needed some reassurance, okay?" Her voice was quieter now. She seemed more exhausted now, and as she shrugged off his arm, she turned to him with a resigned smile. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, and I'm sorry for bothering both you and Kagami. I guess I was just... overstepping boundaries. My parents aren't even home right now, so I..."

"Princess, don't--" he implored, reaching out to her.

She shook her head, grabbing her phone and heaving another sigh. "It was good talking with you, Kitty. Do you remember the way to the door?"

His mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to find words that wouldn't come. Now she was refusing him, after he'd just gotten her to open up? After Kagami had insisted that he make a whole trip to the Dupain-Cheng house because she was concerned for the girl's safety?

He knew it was a bit selfish, but he couldn't help but feel a twinge of resentment towards her for a split second. She wasn't the only one hurting because of what happened. Nearly the whole class had been akumatized before because of _one_ bad day they'd had. Hawkmoth was growing stronger, and things felt more bleak than they had in a while.

Marinette climbed up to her bed and plugged in her phone, settling on the covers. She scrubbed at her eyes and let out a tiny sigh before looking expectantly at him.

"So... you just want me to leave..." he managed to say.

"Yes. I've said my piece, and I'd really prefer if you left quickly before I regret it more." She replied, her voice oddly more hollow than usual. "I've got a long day in the bakery tomorrow, anyway."

He nodded numbly, and he leapt up to the second level and walked up to the trapdoor. He gave her one last look. "Marinette..."

"What?" Her voice was shaky, and she sounded close to tears again.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it and looked away in shame. Then he continued, "For what it's worth... I'm always going to be on your side. Whatever that still means to you."

He slipped up out of sight before she could reply.

All the way home, his cheeks were a touch too warm, his eyes strangely moist, and his throat tight.

**Author's Note:**

> I know Marinette felt kind of OOC in this, but she was mostly speaking out of a place of sheer anger. True, she did misplace some of it at Chat, but she was purely acting on enough emotion to get akumatized (if Hawkmoth was watching, aHEM).
> 
> That, and the poor girl's been through enough of a Humiliation Conga already as it is, she needs a break to finally talk back without getting punched down by the writers for daring to speak her mind. Saltfics, I see you.


End file.
